Tag: Altitude By Duorum 2014

I can spot a food and wine Scientific Experiment a mile off. When online wine merchant Laithwaites told me they were bigging up Britain’s regional dishes with food and wine pairings it didn’t take me long to get out the pans and start cooking. This is how I got on.

Château Le Coin Sauvignon Gris 2015

Sauvignon gris is a white grape typically used in white Bordeaux blends. The wine is a pale gold, and apricot aromas ping from the glass, together with a wet day in a barn, gooseberry and a speck of spice. (12.5% abv, £8.79) Find it here.

Welsh rarebit and sauvignon gris

Food and wine:I cooked Welsh rarebit and managed to drop melted cheese everywhere, including on the dog. The wine found a hint of sweetness it didn’t own before, the spice developed and Yowzah this grape wasn’t hiding in the shadows any more.

Chateau Le Coin Sauvignon Gris

Los Rosales Chapel Vineyard Merlot 2014

Von Reben Riesling 2015

Altitude by Duorum 2014

Von Reben Riesling 2015

This wine is a pale lemon colour and a nose-dip brings squidgy apples and stone fruit. A taste is rewarded with long-lasting mouthwatering lemon and limes. (12% abv, £9.99)

Food and wine: Balti curry, which was created in Birmingham curry houses. In the spirit of the experiment I bought a chicken balti takeaway. The wine’s acidity cleansed the palate between each mouthful and the citrus sparked perfectly against the spices. The stone fruits were lost but the citrus rose above like a soprano in a choir.

Food and wine:A Cornish pasty was the suggestion. I’m just about to get it from the oven … I’m back. My pasty is full of warm melting potato and peppery pork. The pairing doesn’t take the wine and food to another level – but neither do they have a tastebud fall-out. Merlot is a food friend but it sulked a little at the pastry. You know what? The sauvignon gris welcomed the peppery flavours and was perkier with the pastry.

Altitude By Duorum 2014

This is a full-bodied deep deep red, like a dark velvet dress worn by a brooding Scarlett O’Hara. It hails from the Douro in Portugal and is a blend of three native grapes, touriga nacional, touriga franca and tinta roriz. It has a big fruity nose, together with hints of earth and violets; a year in oak adds spice to flavours of black fruits.(13.5% abv £12.99) Find it here.

Scouse – and a yummy red

Food and wine: Scouse – diced lamb, potatoes, onions and carrots. I’d thrown in lots of pepper and the wine was up for that – and the lamb was rich enough to stand up to the wine’s boldness.